Information Handling System with High Current Battery Planar Tab Interconnect

ABSTRACT

A battery cell includes a first power tab and a first conducting wire. The first power tab may include a proximal end connected to the battery cell, and may provide a first output terminal for the battery cell. The first conducting wire may be connected to a distal end of the first power tab, and may be encircled by the first power tab. The first conducting wire may connect with a power circuit board to provide power from the battery cell.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/974,249 entitled “Information Handling System with High CurrentBattery Planar Tab Interconnect” filed May 8, 2018, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to information handlingsystems, and more particularly relates to an information handling systemwith high current battery cell planar tab interconnect.

BACKGROUND

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option is an information handling system. An information handlingsystem generally processes, compiles, stores, or communicatesinformation or data for business, personal, or other purposes.Technology and information handling needs and requirements can varybetween different applications. Thus information handling systems canalso vary regarding what information is handled, how the information ishandled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, andhow quickly and efficiently the information can be processed, stored, orcommunicated. The variations in information handling systems allowinformation handling systems to be general or configured for a specificuser or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airlinereservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. Inaddition, information handling systems can include a variety of hardwareand software resources that can be configured to process, store, andcommunicate information and can include one or more computer systems,graphics interface systems, data storage systems, networking systems,and mobile communication systems. Information handling systems can alsoimplement various virtualized architectures. Data and voicecommunications among information handling systems may be via networksthat are wired, wireless, or some combination.

SUMMARY

A battery cell includes a first power tab and a first conducting wire.The first power tab may include a proximal end connected to the batterycell, and may provide a first output terminal for the battery cell. Thefirst conducting wire may be connected to a distal end of the firstpower tab, and may be encircled by the first power tab. The firstconducting wire may connect with an information handling system toprovide power from the battery cell to a power circuit board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,elements illustrated in the Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.For example, the dimensions of some elements may be exaggerated relativeto other elements. Embodiments incorporating teachings of the presentdisclosure are shown and described with respect to the drawings herein,in which:

FIGS. 1-4 are diagrams of a battery cell in different stages of formingan interconnect according to at least one embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a first embodiment of a power circuit board toconnect the battery cell to an information handling system according toat least one embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a second embodiment of a power circuit board toconnect the battery cell to the information handling system according toat least one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the battery cell in a first connection stage to avertical standoff of the power circuit board according to at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a diagram of the battery cell in a second connection stage tothe vertical standoff of the power circuit board according to at leastone embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the battery cell in a third connection stage tothe vertical standoff of the power circuit board according to at leastone embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a method for providing a high currentbattery cell planar tab interconnect according to at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of another method for providing a high currentbattery cell planar tab interconnect according to at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description in combination with the Figures is provided toassist in understanding the teachings disclosed herein. The descriptionis focused on specific implementations and embodiments of the teachings,and is provided to assist in describing the teachings. This focus shouldnot be interpreted as a limitation on the scope or applicability of theteachings.

FIGS. 1-4 show a battery cell 101 for an information handling system 100in different stages of forming an interconnect between the battery cell101 and a power circuit board, such as power circuit board 500 of FIG. 5or power circuit board 600 of FIG. 6, of the information handling system100. An information handling system may operate in the capacity of aserver or as a client user computer in a server-client user networkenvironment, or as a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer (ordistributed) network environment. The information handling system canalso be implemented as or incorporated into various devices, such as apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile device, a palmtop computer, a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, a communications device, a wirelesstelephone, a land-line telephone, a control system, a camera, a scanner,a facsimile machine, a printer, a pager, a personal trusted device, aweb appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any other machinecapable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise)that specify actions to be taken by that machine. In a particularembodiment, the computer system can be implemented using electronicdevices that provide voice, video or data communication. Further, whilea single information handling system is illustrated, the term “system”shall also be taken to include any collection of systems or sub-systemsthat individually or jointly execute a set, or multiple sets, ofinstructions to perform one or more computer functions

The battery cell 101 includes power tabs 102 and 104, which can beconnected to power pads of a power circuit in an information handlingsystem 100. In an embodiment, the battery cell 101 can be incorporatedinto a battery that includes one or more cells, such as two batterycells connected in series, three battery cells connected in series, fourbattery cells connected in series, two battery cells connected inparallel and two battery cells connected in series, X battery cellsconnected in parallel and Y battery cells connected in series, or thelike. The power tabs 102 and 104 can each include a proximal endconnected to the battery cell 101 and a distal end that is the endfurthest from the battery cell 101. In previous information handlingsystems, the power tabs 102 and 104 would be spot welded to the powerpads of the power circuit, and the size of the power tabs 102 and 104would cause the power pads to consume a large amount of surface area onthe power circuit in order to accommodate the power tabs 102 and 104.Therefore, an improved battery cell interconnect of battery cell 101 isdescribed herein.

If the battery cell 101 has not yet been activated, a wire 106 can beplaced in physical communication with the power tabs 102 and 104, suchas with the distal ends of the power tabs 102 and 104. In an embodiment,the battery cell 101 is not active when connecting the power tabs 102and 104 to a circuit, a wire, or the like does not cause a current flowbetween the power tabs 102 and 104. In an embodiment, the wire 106 canbe a single strand wire or a multiple strand wire, and the gauge of thewire 106 can be selected based on a power circuit board connection forthe wire 106. In an embodiment, the wire 106 can be more conductive thanthe power tabs 102 and 104. After the wire 106 is placed in physicalcommunication with the power tabs 102 and 104, the wire 106 can be spotwelded to power tab 102 at a location 110, and the wire 106 can be spotwelded to power tab 104 at a location 112. In an embodiment, the powertabs 102 and 104 can be pliable, such that the power tabs 102 and 104can be easily bent without breaking.

Upon the wire 106 being spot welded to the power tabs 102 and 104, thewire 106 can be rolled along the power tabs 102 and 104 from the distalends to the proximal ends until the length of the power tabs 102 and 104is substantially reduced. In an embodiment, the length of the power tabs102 and 104 can be a distance that the power tabs 102 and 104 extendfrom the battery cell 101. When the wire 106 has been rolled along thepower tabs 102 and 104, the power tabs 102 and 104 can be wrapped aroundthe wire 106 as indicated by arrow 202 in FIG. 2. In an embodiment, thepower tabs 102 and 104 can encircle the write 106 multiple times asshown by arrow 202.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a connection created by the wire 106 in betweenpower tabs 102 and 104 can be broken by the wire 106 being cut alonglines 302 and 304. The two cuts of wire 106, along lines 302 and 304,can result in a section 306 of the wire 106 being removed. In responseto section 306 being removed the wire 106 can now be two separate wires402 and 404 as shown in FIG. 4. After the separation of wire 106 intotwo wires 402 and 404, the battery cell 101 can be activated, such thatpower can be provided by the battery cell 101 via power tab 102 and wire402 and via power tab 104 and wire 404.

In an embodiment, if the battery cell 101 is activated prior to thepower tabs 102 and 104 being connected to a wire, the wire 402 can beconnected to the distal end of power tabs 102 and the wire 404 can beconnected to the distal end of power tab 104. After the wire 402 isplaced in physical communication with the power tab 102, the wire 402can be spot welded to power tab 102. Similarly, after the wire 404 isplaced in physical communication with the power tab 104, the wire 404can be spot welded to power tab 104. Upon the wire 402 being spot weldedto the power tab 102, the wire 402 can be rolled along the power tab 102from the distal end to the proximal end until the length of the powertab 102 is substantially reduced. Similarly, after the wire 404 is spotwelded to the power tab 104, the wire 404 can be rolled along the powertab 104 from the distal end to the proximal end until the length of thepower tab 104 is substantially reduced.

The wires 402 and 404 can then be connected to a power circuit board,such as power circuit board 500 of FIG. 5 or power circuit board 600 ofFIG. 6. Referring now to FIG. 5, the power circuit board 500 can includemultiple via pairs 502, 504, 506, and 508. In an embodiment, the wires402 and 404 can be sized to the size of the opening of a single via ofthe via pairs 502, 504, 506, and 508. Thus, the wires 402 and 404 can beinserted in one of the via pairs, such as via pair 502. The via pair 502can then route power from the battery cell 101 to different componentsof the power circuit board 500 and the rest of the information handlingsystem 100. Each of the via pairs 502, 504, 506, and 508 can connect adifferent battery cell to the power circuit board 500, and an area ofthe power circuit board 500 consumed by the via pairs 502, 504, 506, and508 can be substantially less than power pads needed if the power tabs102 and 104 were directly connected to the power circuit board 500.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the power circuit board 600 can include a powerinterconnect 602 with a multiple power wire connection pairs 604, 606,608, and 610. In an embodiment, the wires 402 and 404 can connect to oneof the power wire connection pairs, such as power wire connection pair604. The power interconnect 602 can then route power from the batterycell 101 to different components of the power circuit board 600 and therest of the information handling system 100. Each of the power wireconnection pairs 604, 606, 608, and 610 can connect a different batterycell to the power circuit board 600, and an area of the power circuitboard 600 consumed by the power interconnect 602 can be substantiallyless than power pads needed if the power tabs 102 and 104 were directlyconnected to the power circuit board 600.

FIG. 7 illustrates a battery cell 701 and a power circuit board 702 ofan information handling system 700 according to at least one embodimentof the present disclosure. The battery cell 701 includes two power tabs704, as described above for battery cell 101 with respect to FIGS. 1-4,with a power tab 704 visible in FIG. 7. The power tabs 704 can eachinclude a proximal end connected to the battery cell 701 and a distalend that is the end furthest from the battery cell 701. In anembodiment, the power tabs 704 can be pliable, such that the power tabs704 can be easily bent without breaking. The power circuit board 702includes a power standoff 706, which in turn includes a base 708 and anextension portion 710. While only a single power standoff 706 isillustrated in FIG. 7, the power circuit board 702 can include two powerstandoffs 706 each of which can connect to one of the power tabs 704 ofthe battery cell 701. However, for clarity and brevity connectionbetween a single power tab 704 and a single power standoff 706 will bedescribed herein with respect to FIGS. 7-9.

In an embodiment, the base 708 of the power standoff 706 can besubstantially smaller in area of the power circuit board 702 consumed ascompared to a power pad needed if the power tab 704 is connecteddirectly to a power pad of the surface of the power circuitry 702. Thebase 708 can have a substantially smaller area than a previous power padbased on the power tab 704 being placed in physical communication withboth sides of the extension portion 710, such that the power tab 704 cancontact a proper surface area of the power standoff with a minimumamount of area of the power standoff 706 consuming space on the powercircuit board 702. Upon the power tab 704 being placed in physicalcommunication with both sides of the extension portion 710, the powertab 704 can be spot welded to the extension portion 710 as indicated byarrows 712. The battery cell 701 can then be aligned with the powercircuit board 702 as shown in FIG. 8. In this alignment, the batterycell is thick enough that the extension portion 710 does not extendabove the battery cell 701. However, if the battery cell 701 is a thinbattery cell, as shown in FIG. 9, the extension portion 710 can be bentover to a height below that of the thin battery cell 701 of FIG. 9.

While FIGS. 1-9 illustrate a battery cell 101 or 701 utilizing aparticular connection type, such as wire 106 or power standoff 706, oneof ordinary skill in the art would recognize that these connection typesdo not need to be implemented separately. For example, a battery withmore than one cell could utilize multiple different connection types forthe cells, such as traditional power pad connections on the powercircuit board, the wire 106 to connected to the power circuit board, apower standoff 706 on the power circuit board, or the like.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 1000 for providing a highcurrent battery cell planar tab interconnect according to at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure. At block 1002, a determination ismade whether a battery cell is activated at block. In an embodiment, thebattery cell is active when connecting power tabs of the battery cell toa circuit, a wire, or the like causes a current flow between the powertabs. If the battery cell is not activated, a wire is connected onto thepower tabs of the battery cell at block 1004. In an embodiment, the wirecan be connected to the power tabs, by the wire being spot welded to thepower tabs. In an embodiment, the wire can be a single strand wire or amultiple strand wire, and the gauge of the wire can be selected based ona power circuit board connection for the wire. In an embodiment, thewire can be more conductive than the power tabs.

At block 1006, the wire is rolled along the power tabs from distal endsof the power tabs to proximal ends of the power tabs until the length ofthe power tabs are substantially reduced. In an embodiment, the powertabs can be pliable, such that the power tabs can be easily bent withoutbreaking. The wire can be cut at block 1008. In an embodiment, thecutting of the wire can separate a middle portion of the wire located inbetween the power tabs from the outer two portions of the wire. Theremoval of the middle portion of the wire can isolated the power tabsfrom each other. At block 1010, the wires can be routed to desiredlocations on a power circuit board.

If at block 1002, the battery cell is activated, one wire is connectedto one of the power tabs and another wire is connected to the otherpower tab at block 1012. In an embodiment, the wires can be connected tothe power tabs, by each of the wires being spot welded to theirrespective power tab. At block 1014, each of the wires is rolled alongits respective power tab from a distal end of the power tab to aproximal end of the power tab until the length of the power tab issubstantially reduced, and the flow continues as stated above at block1010.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 1100 for providing a highcurrent battery cell planar tab interconnect according to at least oneembodiment of the present disclosure. At block 1102, a power tab of abattery cell is placed in physical communication with two sides of apower standoff of a power circuit board of an information handlingsystem 100. In an embodiment, the power tab can be pliable, such thatthe power tab can be easily bent without breaking. In an embodiment, thepower tab can be placed in physical communication with a verticalextension portion of the power standoff.

At block 1104, the power tab is attached to both sides of the powerstandoff. In an embodiment, the power tab can be attached to the powerstandoff by being spot welded to both sides of the vertical extension ofthe power standoff. At block 1106, a determination is made whether thevertical extension portion of the power standoff extends above the othercomponents of the power circuit board and/or the battery cell. If thevertical extension portion of the power standoff does not extend abovethe other components, the installation of the battery cell is completedat block 1108. If the vertical extension portion of the power standoffdoes extend above the other components, the vertical extension portionof the power standoff is folded or bent to have a lower profile than theother components at block 1110, and the battery cell installation iscompleted at block 1108.

While the computer-readable medium is shown to be a single medium, theterm “computer-readable medium” includes a single medium or multiplemedia, such as a centralized or distributed database, and/or associatedcaches and servers that store one or more sets of instructions. The term“computer-readable medium” shall also include any medium that is capableof storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions for execution bya processor or that cause a computer system to perform any one or moreof the methods or operations disclosed herein.

In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, thecomputer-readable medium can include a solid-state memory such as amemory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatileread-only memories. Further, the computer-readable medium can be arandom access memory or other volatile re-writable memory. Additionally,the computer-readable medium can include a magneto-optical or opticalmedium, such as a disk or tapes or other storage device to storeinformation received via carrier wave signals such as a signalcommunicated over a transmission medium. Furthermore, a computerreadable medium can store information received from distributed networkresources such as from a cloud-based environment. A digital fileattachment to an e-mail or other self-contained information archive orset of archives may be considered a distribution medium that isequivalent to a tangible storage medium. Accordingly, the disclosure isconsidered to include any one or more of a computer-readable medium or adistribution medium and other equivalents and successor media, in whichdata or instructions may be stored.

When referred to as a “device,” a “module,” or the like, the embodimentsdescribed herein can be configured as hardware. For example, a portionof an information handling system device may be hardware such as, forexample, an integrated circuit (such as an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), astructured ASIC, or a device embedded on a larger chip), a card (such asa Peripheral Component Interface (PCI) card, a PCI-express card, aPersonal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) card,or other such expansion card), or a system (such as a motherboard, asystem-on-a-chip (SoC), or a stand-alone device).

The device or module can include software, including firmware embeddedat a processor or software capable of operating a relevant environmentof the information handling system. The device or module can alsoinclude a combination of the foregoing examples of hardware or software.Note that an information handling system can include an integratedcircuit or a board-level product having portions thereof that can alsobe any combination of hardware and software.

Devices, modules, resources, or programs that are in communication withone another need not be in continuous communication with each other,unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices, modules,resources, or programs that are in communication with one another cancommunicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.

Although only a few exemplary embodiments have been described in detailherein, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that manymodifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments withoutmaterially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of theembodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of theembodiments of the present disclosure as defined in the followingclaims. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to coverthe structures described herein as performing the recited function andnot only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A battery cell comprising: a first power tabincluding a proximal end connected to the battery cell and a distal end,the first power tab to provide a first output terminal for the batterycell; and a first conducting wire connected to the distal end of thefirst power tab, the first conducting wire encircled by the first powertab, the first conducting wire to connect with a power circuit board ofan information handling system to provide power from the battery cell tothe power circuit board.
 2. The battery cell of claim 1, furthercomprising: a second power tab including a proximal end connected to thebattery cell and a distal end, the second power tab to provide a secondoutput terminal for the battery cell; and a second conducting wireconnected to the distal end of the second power tab, the secondconducting wire encircled by the second power tab, the second conductingwire to connect with the power circuit board to provide power from thebattery cell to the power circuit board.
 3. The battery cell of claim 2,wherein the first and second conducting wires are formed in response toa middle portion of a third wire being cut from the third wire prior tothe battery cell being activated.
 4. The battery cell of claim 3,wherein the battery cell is capable of provided power in response tobeing activated.
 5. The battery cell of claim 1, wherein the firstconducting wire is connected to the distal end of the first power tab bybeing spot welded to the distal end.
 6. The battery cell of claim 1,wherein the first conducting wire is connected to a power interconnectof the power circuit board.
 7. The battery cell of claim 1, wherein thefirst conducting wire is connected to a via of the power circuit board.8. The battery cell of claim 1, wherein the first conducting wireenables a smaller amount of the power circuit board to be utilized toconnect the battery cell to the power circuit board as compared to thefirst power tab.
 9. The battery cell of claim 1, wherein the first wireis encircled by the first power tab in response to the first wire beingrolled along the first power tab.
 10. A battery cell comprising: a firstpower tab including a proximal end connected to the battery cell and adistal end, the first power tab to provide a first output terminal forthe battery cell; a first conducting wire connected to the distal end ofthe first power tab, the first conducting wire encircled by the firstpower tab, the first conducting wire to connect with a power circuitboard of an information handling system to provide power from thebattery cell to the power circuit board, wherein the first conductingwire is connected to the distal end of the first power tab by being spotwelded to the distal end; a second power tab including a proximal endconnected to the battery cell and a distal end, the second power tab toprovide a second output terminal for the battery cell; and a secondconducting wire connected to the distal end of the second power tab, thesecond conducting wire encircled by the second power tab, the secondconducting wire to connect with the power circuit board to provide powerfrom the battery cell to the power circuit board, wherein the first andsecond conducting wires are formed in response to a middle portion of athird wire being cut from the third wire prior to the battery cell beingactivated.
 11. The battery cell of claim 10, wherein the battery cell iscapable of provided power in response to being activated.
 12. Thebattery cell of claim 10, wherein the first conducting wire is connectedto a power interconnect of the power circuit board.
 13. The battery cellof claim 10, wherein the first conducting wire is connected to a via ofthe power circuit board.
 14. The battery cell of claim 10, wherein thefirst conducting wire enables a smaller amount of the power circuitboard to be utilized to connect the battery cell to the power circuitboard as compared to the first power tab.
 15. The battery cell of claim10, wherein the first wire is encircled by the first power tab inresponse to the first wire being rolled along the first power tab.
 16. Amethod comprising: determining whether a battery cell is activated; andin response to the battery cell not being activated: connecting a firstwire to first and second power tabs of the battery cell; rolling thefirst wire along the first and second power tabs until the first andsecond power tabs extend a predetermined length from the battery cell;and removing a middle portion of the first wire to create second andthird wires, wherein the second wire is connected to the first power taband the third wire is connected to the second power tab.
 17. The methodof claim 16, wherein the first conducting wire is connected to the firstand second power tabs by being spot welded to the first and second powertabs.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first wire is encircled bythe first and second power tabs in response to the first wire beingrolled along the first and second power tabs.
 19. The method of claim16, in response to the battery cell being activated: connecting thesecond wire to the first power tab of the battery cell; rolling thesecond wire along the first power tab until the first power tab extendsthe predetermined length from the battery cell; connecting a third wireto the second power tab of the battery cell; and rolling the third wirealong the second power tab until the second power tab extends thepredetermined length from the battery cell.
 20. The method of claim 19,wherein the second wire is encircled by the first power tab in responseto the second wire being rolled along the first power tab, and the thirdwire is encircled by the second power tab in response to the third wirebeing rolled along the second power tab.